Second Coming of the Lamb of God
and GRACE

The Lamb of God is God's Grace in
action. Grace is a defining feature of Christianity. Unlike other
religions people must do or earn certain things, or can never be
entirely certain of their own destiny. Christianity holds that there is
nothing mankind can do to save itself. That is why the Lamb of God died
for you and I, and why we can be saved only through God’s grace. And
that is why, therefore, salvation through Jesus is available to
everyone, regardless of who they are or what they have done.

So what is grace? It is an entirely
unmerited ‘undeserved kindness’. It allows us the chance of a new
beginning. It comes as a loving gift from God, given freely and
unconditionally. I heard a pastor once said, it is God’s riches at
Christ’s expense.

But while it is free and
unconditional it does require us to respond to it. We must be receptive
to God’s grace for it to work in our lives. To use another analogy, we
must activate the ‘grace receptors’, which we all have, in order to
receive the full effect.

The key to activating those
receptors is faith. Whoever comes to God through faith in his Son, the
Lamb of God will receive that grace, and can begin to rebuild a new
life and a new beginning. Grace is liberating: it sets us free from
those bonds which may have trapped us in a life of wrongdoing. If our
lives are to be likened to a pair of scales, a balance between good and
evil, then grace allows us (if we genuinely turn to God) to receive the
full weight on the good side of the balance.

Grace also heals and reconciles.
Grace allows us to feel good about ourselves once more, to have a sense
of self-esteem, to be generous to one another without counting the
cost.

John Newton, writer of the
well-known song Amazing Grace, knew all about grace. He had been a sea
captain: not to put too fine a point on it, he ran a slave ship.
However, he became a Christian—a new beginning if ever there was
one!—and was blown away by God’s kindness to him despite all he
realised he had done to his fellow-man. He went on to become a priest,
and was vicar of St Mary Woolnoth, a famous church in London. He wrote
some other well-know hymns, too, but it is Amazing Grace for which he
will forever be remembered:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now am found; was
blind, but now I see. Glory to God. What a wonderful God
we serve indeed.